Once fully operational, the Pennsylvania site will employ more than 500 people and make cell therapies for thousands of patients a year.
Johnson & Johnson has committed more than $1 billion to build a cell therapy manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania.
The plant, which is part of J&J’s push to invest $55 billion in the U.S. by early 2029, was first disclosed last month, but few details were available at that time. J&J shared more information Wednesday, revealing it will build the plant in Montgomery County. The facility will employ 500 people when fully operational. Pennsylvania state authorities said J&J will create the jobs over the next 12 years.
At a press conference, J&J CEO Joaquin Duato said construction will start in the second half of 2026. J&J expects to begin making cell therapies for patients at the facility in 2031. Duato said the company will hire some of the planned 500 employees “much earlier” so they can perform validation work at the plant.
The facility will support an emerging cell therapy portfolio. J&J won FDA approval for the BCMA-directed CAR T cell therapy Carvykti in 2022. The company and its partner Legend Biotech struck a five-year deal to outsource production of the cell therapy to Novartis in 2024. Sales of Carvykti almost doubled in 2025 to hit $1.9 billion.
J&J’s pipeline includes a CD20-based CAR T that the company predicts could have annual sales in excess of $5 billion, suggesting it may need additional cell therapy manufacturing capacity in the future. Duato said that when fully operational, the new site will “serve thousands of patients each year, shortening delivery times for these very personalized therapies.”
Discussing the selection of Pennsylvania over other locations, Duato said the state has a deep talent pool and great academic institutions and community colleges. Pennsylvania is awarding up to $2.5 million to a local community college or technical school to help create a workforce development training program for J&J. The money is part of a $41.5 million package of tax credits, grants and other financial support.
Philadelphia, which is close to J&J’s planned site in Montgomery County, is a hub for cell therapies. Led by researchers including Carl June and Bruce Levine, teams at Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia pioneered CAR T cell therapies by driving early development of Novartis’ Kymriah.
Cell and gene therapy startups have spun out of Philadelphia institutions, and the concentration of talent has attracted other companies. Iovance makes tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte cell therapies at a plant in Philadelphia, and cell therapy contract manufacturer Minaris Advanced Therapies is based in the city.
The J&J plant is the second win in quick succession for Pennsylvania. Three weeks ago, Eli Lilly set out plans to spend $3.5 billion to build a manufacturing facility for injectable weight-loss therapies in Lehigh Valley.
